PCB orders an in-house inquiry

The Pakistan Cricket Board has set an in-house inquiry commission to look into the dispensation of large sums of money to former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and another ex-Test player Ejaz Ahmed Jr made during the tenure of PCB chief Nasim Ashraf.

Well placed sources said the Auditor General's office during audit of PCB accounts for the period ending December 2008 had pinpointed the fact that nearly 11 million rupees were given to Inzamam and Ahmed Jr without any proper authorisation or reason.

"The present chairman of the board Ejaz Butt has now asked his staff to look into this matter as the PCB records have a receipt signed by Inzamam dated Oct 22, 2007 confirming he received 10 million rupees with thanks," an insider said.

"But at the same time the AG's office had pointed out that the accounts show that there is a voucher dated Oct 22, 2007 in which an amount of 10,500,000 rupees had been withdrawn through a cheque as paid advance for purchase of cable for Multan stadium floodlights," he said.

"Butt has ordered an in-house inquiry into this vague dispensing of money," he added.

It also show that another one million in two instalments of 500,000 rupees each were paid to Ahmed Jr as donation.

"The question now being asked is why was this huge sum paid to Inzamam and why it is being shown under another head."

Inzamam, who played 120 Tests and 385 ODIs for Pakistan, quit captaincy after his side was eliminated in the first round of the Caribbean World Cup in 2007.

Meanwhile, PCB sources said chairman Ejaz Butt had ordered that Asad Mustafa, who has gone to the Emirates as an associate manager of the team, will return home after the ODI series and Muhammad Ahmed will replace him for the Test tour of New Zealand.

Muhammad Ahmed was associate manager with Yawar Saeed until before the Champions Trophy in South Africa but was replaced by Shafqat Rana later on.

Ahmed has been pinpointed as one of the "oldies" in the team of Butt, who is accused of shunning younger people to accommodate his close friends and associates who are in their sixties or seventies like him.

Strangely while announcing the team management for the one-day and Test series against New Zealand, the PCB had not mentioned that there would be different assistant managers for the two legs of the tour.

"It is hard to understand why Asad Mustafa is being called back from the Emirates as he has worked before with the Pakistan team in New Zealand and knows the conditions and working environment there inside out," one former player said.

Pakistan will play three-match ODI series in Abu Dhabi, commencing from Tuesday, and two Twenty20 matches in Dubai, before travelling to New Zealand for a Test series.